Checks
and balances

Officers of Parliament help ensure accountability of government officials
on behalf of the House of Representatives. To be effective and credible
in this role, Officers of Parliament must be independent of the government.
To ensure their independence:

they are appointed by the Governor-General, on the recommendations
of the House

they report directly to the House

their salaries are met by permanent legislative authority and do not
require the approval of government

requests for funding are reviewed by the Officers of Parliament
Committee, which is non-partisan and chaired by the Speaker
of the House

the Officers of Parliament Committee takes a lead in appointing
new Officers of Parliament.

In 2003 there were six Officers of Parliament: three Ombudsmen (John
Belgrave, Anand Satyanand and Mel Smith), Parliamentary Commissioner
for the Environment (Dr Morgan Williams), Controller and Auditor-General
(Kevin Brady) and Deputy Controller and Auditor-General (Kevin Simpkins).

The Ombudsmen

An Ombudsman is independent and impartial. Ombudsmen are not advocates
for either the complainant or the organisation concerned. Their role
is to impartially consider, after reviewing all of the evidence, whether
the correct decision has been made. They investigate complaints about
administrative actions (or failures to act) by government officials
that have adversely affected individuals. An Ombudsman may also review
requests for the release of official information that have been declined.

The Ombudsmen have specific areas they are authorised to investigate.
These include complaints against any government department or organisation
at the central, regional or local levels of government administration.
Many actions taken by organisations such as health authorities, school
boards, universities and city or regional councils fall within the
Ombudsmen’s jurisdiction.
The Ombudsmen and their staff are required to maintain secrecy about
matters they learn in their investigation. The exception is where
the investigation cannot take place without information being disclosed.

Environment

The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment has powers to
investigate and report on any matter where the environment may be,
or has been, adversely affected.

The Commissioner’s role includes:

investigating whether environmental laws are working as intended

investigating whether environmental planning and management
of public authorities is achieving the right outcomes

advising Parliament and government on environmental issues

providing information to interested parties and the public and
facilitating good environmental decisions.

Auditor-General

The Controller and Auditor-General and the Deputy Controller and
Auditor-General play a key role as agents of Parliament in helping
maintain accountability in the public sector.

The main parts of this role are:

providing opinions on whether the accounts prepared by public
bodies fairly reflect their performance

providing information to Parliament, in particular parliamentary
select committees, so Parliament is able to oversee the way the
executive
uses resources – resources that are ultimately owned by citizens.